Configuring a Redundant Pair of VMA SAN Gateways - Process Guide

When configuring this first ‘primary’ gateway, you must initialize all VMA Array media by creating

containers on the connected VMA Arrays using the gateway CLI ‘media init’ command. The gateway

media init command will format the container layout required on the VMA Arrays for use with

redundant gateways. Also connect, configure and verify the Fibre Channel connections as according

to the ‘HP VMA-series SAN Gateway Installation and User Guide’

WARNING: It is important that during deployment and configuration of this first ‘primary’ gateway

that the secondary gateway is not connected to the LAN or the VMA Arrays. The ‘secondary’

gateway will be setup and introduced to the configuration later in the pairing process.

Once you have the first VMA SAN Gateway configured as a standalone gateway and the VMA

Arrays, up to two arrays maximum, connected to the gateway and media containers initialized, that

completes the required preparation steps for this deployment scenario. Please go to the next major

step, ‘Update the Primary/Master VMA SAN Gateway’ below to continue with the pairing process.

Adding a new gateway to create a redundant gateway pair

This is the simplest beginning scenario. In this scenario, you want to pair a new gateway (no existing

configuration on the gateway) to an existing configured standalone gateway with connected VMA

arrays to create a redundant gateway pair.

For this scenario of pairing a second new gateway to an existing configured standalone gateway, the

existing standalone gateway will take on the role as the ‘primary’ gateway and the new, non-

configured gateway will take on the role as the ‘secondary’ gateway within this redundant pair

relationship.

See Figure 3 below for correct examples of a standalone VMA SAN Gateway configuration with one

or two arrays showing the correct PCIe and FC cabling before a secondary gateway is added.

Figure 3: Supported Stand-alone VMA SAN Gateway configurations

One VMA Array connected to a Stand-alone

VMA SAN Gateway

Two VMA Arrays connected to a Stand-alone

VMA SAN Gateway